Whenever Green printed any special news item he was pretty
sure to add some reflection of a religious character. By way of
illustration, Buckingham gave the following:
Yesterday, being the Lord's-Day, the Water flowed over our Wharffs and into our streets to a very surprizing height. They say the Tide rose 20 Inches higher than ever was known before. The Storm was very strong at North-East. The many great Wharffs, which since the last overflowing Tydes have been run out into the Harbour, and fill'd so great a part of the Bason, have methinks contributed something not inconsiderable to the rise of the Water upon us. But if it be found that in other Places distant from us, and where no such reason as this here given can have place, the waters have now risen in like proportion as they did with us; then we must attribute very little to the reason above suggested. The loss and damage sustained is very great, and the little Image of an Inundation which we had, look'd very dreadful. It had been a great favour to the town, if upon the first Rising of the Waters in the Streets, which hapn'd in the time of the Fore-noon Service, some discreet Persons had in a grave and prudent manner inform'd some or other of the Congregations of it; that such whose Houses & Stores lay most exposed might have repair'd timely to them. The reason in this case seems the same as if there had been a Fire in the Town. Let us fear the GOD of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land, who commandeth & raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves; who ruleth the raging of the sea, and when the waves thereof arise, He stilleth them.
SIAMESE TWINS OF JOURNALISM
John Draper, to whom the management of the paper fell in 1733, tried to follow in the footsteps of his father-in-law by con- tinuing this semi-religious editorial policy. On Draper's death in 1762, his son Richard became the publisher. One of his acts was to change the name to that of The Boston Weekly News- Letter and New-England Chronicle. Not satisfied with this, he tried The Massachusetts Gazette and Boston News-Letter. When he acquired The Boston Post-Boy in 1768 he ran what has been called the Siamese Twins in journalism. The union was called The Massachusetts Gazette, but each paper continued separate publication : the twin papers came out on Monday and on Thurs- day; the first half of the paper on each day was The Gazette and was the official organ of the Government to publish the laws, etc.; the second half was The Post-Boy on Monday and The
